I battled with fear for a very long time. So much so that my body started to break down — I burned out from the exertion of a chronic state of “fight or flight”. Ultimately, that crash forced me to come to terms with my resisted emotions (the things I least wanted to feel, like fear). Doing so meant that I learned to see them differently. The rule that I live by now is this:

Pain does not happen to us but for us.

These days — and admittedly, it’s not always immediate — I choose to ask myself what my “negative emotions” are here to teach me. It’s beyond empowering. Doing this means that you can make meaning out of misfortune, rather than feeling like the hapless target for terrible luck.